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The project titled --Studies for Fuel Saving and Emission Reduction in Large Size IC Engines using Bio-Inspired Textured Surfaces-- is sponsored under Uchchatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY) by MHRD. Indian Railways and GE Bangalore are also sponsors in this project. GE Bangalore will be implementing the outcomes of this project.

Worldwide great attempts are being made by the researchers for saving the fuels and reducing the emissions from the IC engines. This is extremely vital for addressing the environmental/global warming issues (through reduction of emissions) and extending the life of the reservoirs of the petroleum products. It is worth noting here that fuel saving and reduction in the emissions are critically needed in our country for minimizing the high dependency on the external sources for the crude oils and addressing the concerns of the future stringent emissions.

Fuel saving and emission reduction can be achieved by friction reduction at the various interfaces in the engines by manipulating the tribological properties of lubricating oils up to the certain extent. However, what is important is that the friction in the engines can be reduced significantly by taking the lessons from the nature in the form of mimicking the bio- surfaces/textures at the cylinder liner and piston rings. The objective of this project is to perform the numerical and experimental studies for development of bio-inspired surface technology for use on the surfaces of engine components (cylinder liner and piston ring) for reducing the friction leading to the fuel saving and emission reduction.

The surface technology will be jointly developed by IIT Delhi and GE India Technology Centre, Bangalore. This project is planned to be executed in three major modules i.e. (i) Numerical simulation for establishing the best bio-inspired surfaces/textures for friction reduction, (ii) fabrication of optimized surfaces/texture for assessing the friction and wear and accordingly manufacturing the textured cylinder liner/piston ring, and (iii) testing of large size locomotive engines employing the textured cylinder liner/piston rings for measurement of fuel saving and emission reduction.

The development of the intended bio-inspired surface texture technology would enable India to develop the indigenous expertise in texture design and advanced manufacturing in line with the Make in India program. The outcomes of this project will help in improving the fuel saving and emission reductions in large size engines particularly locomotive engines. This technology can also be extended to other large size engines employed in marine engines, trucks and highway vehicles.